A teenage Hindu girl who was recently abducted from a
village in Thar has been forced to convert to Islam and reportedly made
to enter a marriage, her family and relatives claimed on Thursday.
The
family of the 14-year-old girl told reporters at Islamkot press club
that the girl was abducted a few days ago after three armed men barged
into their home and held the family hostage.
Hero
Meghwar, the said girl's father, revealed that he contacted local people
of influence but was told that the girl had converted and married a
certain Naseer Lunjo, hence there is little that could be done.
The
family members alleged that local police, too, was not interested in
recovering the girl. They demanded that the girl should be recovered and
produced before a court if she has indeed converted.
But
SSP Thar Ameer Saud Magsi maintained that a first information report
(FIR) has been registered under Sections 365 and 34 of the Pakistan
Penal Code, while raids are being conducted to arrest the three suspects
nominated in the FIR.
The SSP revealed that according
to a letter he received from elders of the person accused of converting
the girl, the girl had converted to Islam at the hand of a pir
(spiritual leader) in Umerkot district.
Magsi said not only has the police received a certificate of conversion, a copy of which is available with Dawn,
issued by the pir, but also the now-married couple has filed an
application in the Sindh High Court, seeking protection. He said the
court has fixed the application for hearing on January 17 next year.
The
conversion certificate, however, leaves open the mystery of how a
14-year-old from a distant Thar village made it as far as Samaro.
Taking
notice of the matter, Sindh Inspector General of Police A.D. Khawaja
has directed deputy inspector general Mirpurkhas to immediately submit a
report regarding steps taken by the police and details of the inquiry
into the case.